This problem is noticed by me recently, and I find that all the backup catalogs created by Lightroom Classic CC (“Lightroom”) after 14 January 2018 was corrupted (as Lightroom said). The most recent backup catalog which I can use is the one created on 14 January 2018.

However, Lightroom is working normally and seems no problem at all. I can edit photos as usual. I have set Lightroom to back up the catalog every time when I quit Lightroom, and it seems everything alright. However, when I try to use the backup catalog, it fails. Lightroom said they are corrupted. I don't know why.

Last night, I have done an experiment. I backed up my catalog as usual when I quitted Lightroom. Immediately after I quitted Lightroom, I unzipped the backup catalog and copied the catalog to the default folder which Lightroom uses. I reran Lightroom and Lightroom said my catalog is corrupted. This copy was just created by Lightroom when I quitted Lightroom last time. I then removed the backup catalog and putted back the current catalog in default folder. Lightroom just works fine. It seems that Lightroom does not correctly back up the catalog. Very strange!

If you're moving the unzipped backup into the default location, where there could be .lock and .journal files, that could be causing the corruption. Try opening in place in your backup location by just double clicking, or by going in Lightroom to File > Open Catalog and browsing to the backup location.

I followed your instructions last night. It's really a nightmare. The program was even crashed and I needed to reinstall the software before I can use it. The message shown when I tried to run the software is "assertion failed".

For your information, I noticed that the size of my current catalog is different from the backup one. I suppose they are to be the same size. It appears to me that the only way I can do at the moment is to back up the catalog manually by using window explorer.

I have the exact same problem and find that ALL of my backups are corrupt. I have tried Mikes suggestions but no luck.

I highly recommend checking back up integrity every time and not relying on any zipped backups. I have checked every zipped back up file for 2 months and have not found a single one which was not corrupt.

Copy your unzipped catalog to a separate drive and make a duplicate of that drive if you really can't afford to lose your work.

I have always tested my backups for numerous programs for 40 years. The only real way to know you have a secure backup is to test it as soon as you make it.

D

Even that doesn't give you complete assurance that the backup will work in the future, if the hard disk that the backup is stored on starts to malfunction. Storing backups in multiple locations (hard disk locally and in the cloud) gives you more protection.

Yes, I always unzip the backup. Lightroom starts to open the catalog and then tells me the catalog is corrupt.

There are a lot of people who think they have a secure backup but in truth have none. Adobe needs to get this issue resolved

I have always tested my backups for numerous programs for 40 years. The only real way to know you have a secure backup is to test it as soon as you make it.

D

You are right. And like a jerk, despite always copying catalog backups to several different locations, I never actually tested them until after reading this thread. I can confirm that I also have this problem (LR Classic 7.1, Windows 10).

IMHO if you are having a problem with extracting and using backed up catalog files and your main working catalog file is corrupted you have a Computer Problem. It is not LR.

I've been using LR since 2007 on at least 5 different computers and have never had a catalog become corrupted. I just tested my latest backup, made 2/5/2018, and it opens fine. But then my main catalog, which has been upgraded with almost every version of LR since V1, opens and works fine also.

I am having exactly the same problem. I never had it before Classic CC - i.e., until I upgraded to Classic, I have never had a corrupted catalog - we're talking many, many, years and many, many, LR versions .

My compressed backups have likewise been OK till Classic CC - i.e., when i've needed to recover from a backup, I've just unzipped the backup, put it in the right place, and ran it. No problems. But after Classic CC, I encountered a corrupted catalog a couple of times, but was able to fix it via various recommended methods. But I'm now facing a disaster. My current catalog became corrupted, and every backup i've tried (including a backup stored on dropbox that wasn't compressed) is also corrupted (or at least LR thinks it is).

That several users are seeing the same thing makes it very unlikely it's because of a hardware problem.

I've been diligent - backing up via LR frequently, always assuming (based on pre-Classic experience) that the backups were reliable. If in fact they're not, it's pretty much a disaster. Yes, I have all the photos so could build a new catalog via import, but that would likely cost me days, given how slow the current Classic import is), and obviously I would lose editing histories, collections, published collections, etc.

I have already done an experiment. I backed up my catalog as usual when I quitted Lightroom. Immediately after I quitted Lightroom, I unzipped the backup catalog and copied the catalog to the default folder which Lightroom uses. I reran Lightroom and Lightroom said my catalog is corrupted. This copy was just created by Lightroom when I quitted Lightroom a few minutes before and the current catalog is working fine.

I then removed the backup catalog and putted back the current catalog in default folder. Lightroom just works fine. It seems that Lightroom does not correctly back up the catalog. Very strange!

I did a research on internet on how to recover a corrupted Lightroom backup catalog. It seems that Lightroom catalog is using Sqlite3's database structure. You can try this software to recover the corrupted catalog. However, I failed, but I can now use Sqlite to check the integrity of Lightroom catalog.

My results are not 100% consistent, but I think that - when LR quits after it discovers a catalog is corrupted - it stores the catalog name somewhere. If I try to reopen the catalog, I get an error message saying the catalog is corrupted. But, usually (not always), if I replace the catalog with a saved copy and change its name, LR opens the catalog OK - if I try to do a lot with it, LR hits something it can't read and again declares the catalog corrupt.

So I've been able to construct a usuble catalog by opening known-corrupt catalogs and exporting crucial folders as new catalogs, then combining these with a very-old catalog that appears not to have been corrupted. Then I'm trying to fill in the gaps by re-importing files or reading current metadata. This all takes a lot of time.

Of course, I'm making a (manual) copy of the new catalog every hour or so during reconstruction.

So it looks like I don't have a complete disaster. But I've definitely lost a substantial amount of work, and I'm nervous because LR lcat files have gone from rock solid to seemingly fragile - catalogs I'm pretty sure are clean occasionally become (or are discovered to be) corrupted. It's like walking on eggshells - always nervous about something cracking.

I don't understand why Adobe can't provide it, but it's really too bad you can't completely regenerate a catalog by exporting everything and importing to a new, clean catalog. That works, of course, for the image folders, but I don't know of any reasonably easy way to export/import collections and published collections. You can export a collection as a folder and import it to the new catalog, but this is very laborious if you use collections extensively. But I don't think LR facilitates moving published collections from one catalog to another (you can treat them as regular collections, but no publishing info is carried over).

I'm glad to hear that the new release has solved some of the corruption problems.

Unfortunately, not for me. In fact, the new release made things much worse. Yesterday I had a usable catalog that LR opened. Today, the revised LR will not even open that catalog!

My situation is that the revised LR will not open any catalog that was backed up by Classic CC or based in part on a catalog backed up by Classic CC. The problem began with Classic CC. My very first backup after Classic installation in Oct. is not readable (corrupted). If I take the previous backup (before Classic) and run Classic to update the catalog format, the result is a usable catalog that passes the integrity test. Right now, my only way forward is to start over with that and try to reconstruct all of the work since Oct - hugely time consuming and error-prone given that it's not just photos taken since then, but many edits to legacy photos, many subsequent collections, and (more difficult) many published collections.

Does anyone know if it's possible to downgrade my installation to the previous version?

It there's anyone out there from Adobe LR that can help me, please message or email me directly. Thank you.

js

P.S. Again, since Classic CC cheerfully backs up corrupt catalogs even if you have "test integrity" ticked, I urge users to run the integrity test occasionally on LR startup.

1) it passes “test integrity” when the integrity test is run on LR startup

2) it backs up on LR exit with both test integrity and optimize enabled – no error messages from the test

3) Nevertheless, when I create a brand new catalog and then try to import repaired.lrcat, the import fails with “LR could not import this catalog because of an unknown error”.

Perhaps that’s a clue to what’s wrong with my full catalog. I’ll go ahead and upload repaired.lrcat in case someone is looking into my problem and thinks it's useful to look at this catalog fragment.

If nothing else, this confirms that the LR "test integrity" is not trustworthy! Obviously, that's dangerous. In my case, it's why I didn't notice until now that my main catalog got corrupted when I switched to Classic CC (i.e., when the catalog format was updated). I know this because my last backup pre-Classic is OK, but my first backup from Classic is corrupt (likewise all subsequent backups).

No matter what caused the error, I am sure that the backup catalog is not the same as the original version. I have used a software to compare the contents of the original and the backup version, the software indicated they are not the same. I back up the catalog manually now to play safe.

No matter what caused the error, I am sure that the backup catalog is not the same as the original version. I have used a software to compare the contents of the original and the backup version, the software indicated they are not the same. I back up the catalog manually now to play safe.

This made me check on my system. I have a catalog partially rebuilt from my last pre-Classic backup. At the outset, and on every significant edit, I run the catalog integrity test on startup. The catalog has always passed.

Given the history, I've been backing up manually. But today I checked, and what you said is true on my system. In particular:

a) I used LR to backup my current good catalog, with test integrity turned on.

b) I retrieved the backup by copying the zip file to my desktop, and unzipping it there.

c) The size of the retrieved catalog was different (larger) than the original.

d) The retrieved catalog was corrupt. That is, it failed the integrity test on LR startup.

So I say again, this might be a bug that's unlikely to affect most users - probably not, because one would think there'd be an outcry beyond the few people who've posting here that they're experiencing the problem. Either way, you should check your catalog by running the integrity test on startup. Unfortunately, that's not 100% foolproof, since my experience has shown clearly that corrupt catalogs can pass the integrity test.

Sorry to hear you that you have such a big problem. I suggest not using Lightroom itself to check integrity of the catalog, I use Sqlite3 to check instead. It's simple to use as follows:

1) copy the current catalog to the directory of Sqlite3 (keep the current catalog untouched);

2) rename the catalog name so that there is no space in its name (Sqlite3 does not accept file name with space);

3) double click Sqlite3.exe to run Sqlite3;

4) in command window, type ".open [file name with file extension]";

5) in command window, type "pragma integrity_check;" - The result will come out and show you whether the catalog is OK or not;

6) in command window, type ".quit" to exit Sqlite3.

Hope the above helps!

I notice that you have installed Sqlite, and therefore, try to make use of it to check integrity. I am now using this software to check integrity of the catalog every time I quit Lightroom. On the other hand, I also discover that there are some paid software claiming that they can repair corrupted database, however, they are very expensive and I do not try them at all. I am not sure whether these softwares can solve our problem.

From my history, it is likely that the software compatibility of Windows 10 and Lightroom (I guess) causing this problem as I remember, this problem happened after I upgraded my Windows 10 to the latest version (Windows 10, version 1709). But I am not sure as I cannot proof it now.

Sorry to hear you that you have such a big problem. I suggest not using Lightroom itself to check integrity of the catalog, I use Sqlite3 to check instead. It's simple to use as follows:

1) copy the current catalog to the directory of Sqlite3 (keep the current catalog untouched);

2) rename the catalog name so that there is no space in its name (Sqlite3 does not accept file name with space);

3) double click Sqlite3.exe to run Sqlite3;

4) in command window, type ".open [file name with file extension]";

5) in command window, type "pragma integrity_check;" - The result will come out and show you whether the catalog is OK or not;

6) in command window, type ".quit" to exit Sqlite3.

Hope the above helps!

I notice that you have installed Sqlite, and therefore, try to make use of it to check integrity. I am now using this software to check integrity of the catalog every time I quit Lightroom. On the other hand, I also discover that there are some paid software claiming that they can repair corrupted database, however, they are very expensive and I do not try them at all. I am not sure whether these softwares can solve our problem.

From my history, it is likely that the software compatibility of Windows 10 and Lightroom (I guess) causing this problem as I remember, this problem happened after I upgraded my Windows 10 to the latest version (Windows 10, version 1709). But I am not sure as I cannot proof it now.

Henry

Hi Henry -

Thanks for continuing to be helpful. I was happy to hear about integrity_check, so did a bunch of experiments. Unfortunately, at least for catalogs I've been trying, integrity_check says they're ok, but for Classic they're corrupt. For example, in the case of my original corrupt lrcat (the one I've been trying to reconstruct), sqlite3 says it's ok but Classic crashes with the following:

I can only conclude that passing the sqlite3 integrity_check doesn't necessarily mean that the catalog is ok with Classic. Actually, that makes sense to me - integrity_check can only detect whether or not the file is a valid sqlite database, but I don't see how it can detect whether that database is a valid database for any program.

One more step I have missed in my suggested procedures to verify that you have properly opened the Lightroom database. Sqlite3 will automatically create a new database if it does not succeed to open your Lightroom database. To make sure that you have properly opened the database, in the command window, type ".databases" or type ".tables". You should see either the file name of your database opened or list of tables which Lightroom uses.

To me, I think that if the database passed the Sqlite3's integrity check, it should be usable by Lightroom.

If I have time tonight, I will install Lightroom Classic CC into my old computer which runs Windows 7. Under two different OSs (one is Windows 10, the other is Windows 7), I would like to check whether the backup catalog will be the same.

After hearing you saying that passing the Sqlite3's integrity check doesn't necessarily mean the catalog is ok with Classic CC, I am seriously concerned about the integrity of my Lightroom catalog.

Just for your information. I test ran the backup of catalog in my old system Windows 7 and would like to confirm to you that it is not the software problem. The contents of the backup catalog are still not the same as the original catalog. In particular, the original catalog could pass the Sqlite3's integrity check while the backup one could not. At least, this indicated that there are problems with Backup.